Only four escaped downed plane as it sank in Brazilian river

SAO PAULO – Four people at the rear of a plane that crashed in a muddy muddy river in Amazonas state managed to open an emergency door and swim to safety as the aircraft sank, dragging 24 others to their death, officials said yesterday.

Most victims were from a single family that had chartered the plane to travel to a birthday party. Seven children died.

“It was all very fast. The plane sank very fast,” survivor Brenda Moraes, 21, told Brazil's GloboNews TV. “We only had a chance because we were sitting in the last rows and could open the emergency door.”

Divers yesterday recovered two dozen bodies from the twin turboprop plane that plunged into the Manacapuru River in a heavy rainstorm the day before, ending rescue operations after all passengers and crew were accounted for, said firefighter Maj. Jair Ruas Braga.

Aviation and fire officials said there were 28 people aboard the plane, a twin turboprop with a capacity of 21 people. A director for the company operating the plane denied the plane was overweight despite carrying more passengers than its capacity.

Survivors' relatives told Brazilian media that an engine apparently stopped about an hour into the 185-mile flight, which originated in the city of Coari. The plane went down about 50 miles short of its destination in Manaus, capital of Amazonas state.

The pilot had contacted air controllers to report driving rain, but did not mention engine trouble, the air force said. It noted that the pilot – who died along with the co-pilot – appears to have attempted a rare water landing, such as one made by a commercial jet last month in New York's Hudson River saving the lives of all 155 people on board.